Chatham House: The COP Presidency Year

In November 2021, the UK convened COP26 in Glasgow, widely considered to be one of the most important climate change meetings in recent years.

As the COP26 president, Alok Sharma played the lead role in the preparations for the summit, rallying countries across the world to raise their ambition and brokering ‘the Glasgow Climate Pact’, the summit’s main agreement.

Speaking shortly after COP26, he concluded COP26 had kept 1.5 degrees alive, but that ‘its pulse is weak’ and it will only survive if promises are kept and pledges translated into action.

At this special event, the first in a new series of Chatham House Waddesdon Club Webinars, Alok Sharma reflects on the success of the Glasgow summit and set out the UK’s priorities for the rest of its presidency. 

 Issues discussed include: 

• What is the UK presidency’s ambition for agreeing further revisions to NDCs in the coming year and how will it support this?
• What does the presidency hope to see achieved on public and private climate finance, and greening the global financial system in 2022?
• How does the UK presidency plan to deliver for climate vulnerable countries, ensuring that countries honour their commitments on adaptation and loss and damage?
• What does the UK hope to see achieved  on the road to COP27 and how will it work with Egypt to build the necessary momentum to achieve this?

This event forms part of Chatham House’s work on realizing sustainability.

As with all Chatham House member events, questions from members drive the conversation. This event forms part of Chatham House’s work on realizing sustainability.